Christian Wilkins, Springfield native and Clemson standout, making NFL wait because he knows what it means to call a place home

SPRINGFIELD -- The moment that put Christian Wilkins on the map came on an extra point.

Wilkins burst through the offensive line, stepped over the long snapper and swatted the ball down as the ball was snapped. He then scooped the ball and sprinted down the left sideline, high-stepping his way into the end zone like a 290-pound Deion Sanders.

After he finished celebrating with his Under Armour All-American Game teammates, Wilkins turned to the camera. He signaled "4-1-3," with his fingers -- the area code for his hometown of Springfield -- an area code that perhaps came as a surprise to those who looked him up after the play.

"He came from an area that had good competition, but maybe not as tough as some of the other prospects from Florida, Texas, California, Alabama," ESPN play-by-play announcer Matt Schick said as Wilkins celebrated the big play on Jan. 2, 2015. "The question was, 'How steep would that jump in competition be?' It seemed to not be at all for Christian Wilkins."

Wilkins had the chance to flash that "4-1-3" sign to the camera two years later while celebrating his national championship victory with Clemson.

In April, Wilkins could have had the chance to signal "4-1-3" to the camera again as he walked on stage to put on the hat of whichever NFL team drafted him. He could have been the first Springfield native drafted in nearly a decade. Instead, the 413 will wait one more year to celebrate Wilkins' NFL ascent, as he will return to Clemson for his senior season.

Dominant football players do not typically come from Western Massachusetts. In 2015, when Wilkins was a five-star recruit, the next closest five-star player was more than 500 miles away from him. The only other player from Massachusetts in the Under Armour game was a kicker.

And yet, somehow, Wilkins emerged from the birthplace of basketball and found a home on the gridiron. How did he do it?

The story begins with Ron Brace.

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(Photo courtesy Robin Stamps Jones)

When Wilkins was 7 years old, he signed up for his local 5A youth football team, just like his older brother Aaron had. He was a big kid for his age and had grown tough as the youngest of five kids, including two brothers who were nine and 11 years older than him.

So just a few weeks after Wilkins got used to his pads and uniform, one of his youth coaches told his mother, Robin Stamps Jones, that her son had something special. That coach, Ron Brace Sr., knew what he was looking at. He had seen his own son rise to football prominence playing defensive tackle.

"I was like, 'Well, he's like 7 years old,' Stamps Jones said. "How can you tell?'"

Sure, Wilkins had size and athleticism at an early age, but Brace saw more than just that. It was Wilkins' work ethic that separated him from the pack. It was his mental attitude and dedication to making himself great.

At the time, Brace's son, Ron, was putting the finishing touches on a high school career that would lead him to Division I football at Boston College. Brace was one of the most heralded linemen in the state, leading his Worcester Burncoat team to a state championship game appearance. He went on to star at BC and was chosen by the New England Patriots in the second round (40th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft.

As Brace Jr. worked his way into Bill Belichick's defensive line rotation, Wilkins stayed close with Brace Sr. Wilkins grew up as a big Patriots fan and dreamed of following a similar path to Brace -- play college football, and get to the pros.

"I looked to Ron at times for mentorship and stuff, too, just coming up," Wilkins said. 'Obviously, he went down the path -- a path I wanted to pursue also."

Like Brace, Wilkins played part of his high school football career in Central Mass., making the varsity team at Framingham High School in his freshman year. But Wilkins' path hit a turning point when tragedy struck on Jan. 5, 2011.

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Wilkins had to leave Framingham in 2011. His grandfather Eurie Stamps Sr., who he and some of his family were living with, was accidentally shot and killed during a SWAT team raid of his house. The SWAT team had been searching for Stamps' stepson and two associates, who were suspected of selling drugs from the apartment. Instead, the 68-year-old grandfather of 12 with no criminal history was killed while lying face down in the hallway.

Wilkins finished his school year but returned to Springfield with the rest of his family shortly afterward. Instead of going to a Springfield public school, Stamps Jones sent her son to East Longmeadow High School, where she thought the smaller learning environment would be similar to Framingham's. Even with his sister joining him at school, however, Wilkins never felt like he was at home there.

"He said, "Ma, I hate it here, get me out of here,'" Stamps Jones said. "I always say Christian knows how to pick 'em. He kind of knows what direction -- even at a very young age."

So through the help of some family friends, Wilkins found himself 12 miles down I-91 at Suffield (Conn.) Academy. That's where he met football coach Drew Gamere.

Gamere knew Wilkins' story. He knew the tragedy Wilkins was trying to leave behind in Framingham, though it was not something the teenager talked about at all. But he also saw something special in Wilkins. He saw a kid who was determined not to let his past hold him back.

"I think there was a maturity for him that showed right away on his visit of looking at this as an opportunity to be successful not just in the athletic realm, but seeing it as a place that he could excel and grow, and to some degree honor his grandfather," Gamere said.

Of course, Gamere saw Wilkins' immense potential on the football field as well. It's not often a 6-foot-3, 270-pound ninth-grader who can dunk a basketball comes along.

Gamere's first impression of Wilkins was that of a determined young man. His second impression was that of a determined young football player. In one of Wilkins' first practices, he was put on the opposite team of Suffield's starting quarterback. That was a mistake.

"Christian absolutely annihilated him," Gamere said. "I was just like, 'Wow, ok. Great job. But please don't do that again.'"

(Via MaxPreps on YouTube)

Wilkins repeated his freshman year at Suffield and spent all four years there, improving as a student and a football player. Gamere said he could have been class president by his senior year if he wanted to, and he was a proctor in his dormitory. He was the leader of all the cheers at just about every sporting event -- from junior varsity girls volleyball to varsity soccer.

Suffield was important to Wilkins. So when he had the opportunity to take the next step and participate in Clemson's spring practices in his senior year, he declined. He wanted to savor his last few months at the home he grew to love.

"He wanted to have his spring here to be with his senior class and go to prom and experience being a senior, which is a credit to him, which I was proud of," Gamere said.

But the next step was always waiting for him.

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Actually, the next step was begging for him to come. At least 20 Division I programs offered Wilkins a scholarship coming out of Suffield. Stamps Jones remembers the five different coaches who showed up in Springfield to speak with her about her son, including Penn State's James Franklin, Boston College defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni and Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson. Urban Meyer spoke with her on the phone too, and she still keeps an email exchange with him in a scrapbook. She initially thought her son would choose to be a Buckeye, since they had just won the national championship.

But Clemson got there first. Dabo Swinney was the first college coach to show up at Wilkins' doorstep. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables grew close to the family; Stamps Jones has a picture of Venables and Wilkins in her scrapbook too.

That was Venables' first time ever recruiting in New England.

"It's a smaller pool to pull from," Venables said, noting that Clemson has plenty of talent to pick from closer to home. "You've got to be pretty special for us to come recruit you in that part of the country."

Rivals.com's Adam Friedman says every college coach in the country watches New England prep school film, even if they do not show up in person. Rivals.com had no issue making Wilkins a four-star recruit based on his film and his performances at the Rivals Camp Series. That was what drew Venables to Wilkins in the first place, though the Under Armour game certainly helped his case.

Wilkins has proven to be worth the effort. He was a First-Team freshman All-American in his first year at Clemson, en route to the national championship game. The Tigers lost to Alabama, but Wilkins helped them back there the following year, when he was a Nagurski Award finalist, and this time Clemson won the title. As a junior, the Tigers made it back to the College Football Playoffs. Not a bad run.

Just like at Suffield, Wilkins' off-the-field presence was just as big as his on-field presence. He was loved for his Carpool Karaoke rendition of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." The full split he performed after winning the national championship became an internet meme. He and the rest of his defensive linemen dressed up as Power Rangers for Halloween together.